Best Ooni pizza oven 2024
As one of the leading pizza oven brands, Ooni offers a wide range of wood-fired, gas and charcoal models – but which should you choose for your outdoor space?
Ooni is a big name in the world of pizza ovens and for a good reason. After launching in 2012, the Scottish brand has been at the forefront of making at-home pizza ovens more accessible to UK households, so they're more versatile, lightweight, easy to use, and less expensive than what was previously available.
Its offering includes multi-fuel, wood-fired, gas, charcoal and electric pizza ovens, not to mention a wide range of accessories, cookware, groceries, and recipes. There are Ooni ovens for large gardens, small courtyards, or even indoors, all of which are capable of helping you achieve that classically mottled, puffy crust and bubbling toppings in under two minutes.
Our expert reviewers at Good Food have put every Ooni pizza oven to the test, using strict criteria to measure their ease of use, quality of design, versatility, and – perhaps most importantly – their cooking performance. We also looked at whether they were packaged with recyclable materials, how easily they could be stored, and whether they provided good value for money.
If you're trying to decide between Ooni and another pizza oven brand like Gozney, our friends at olivemagazine.com have a helpful guide on Gozney vs Ooni. You can also find the latest offers in our pick of the best pizza oven deals.
Best Ooni pizza ovens at a glance
- Best Ooni pizza oven for taking on trips: Ooni Karu 12G multi-fuel pizza oven, £379
- Best multi-fuel Ooni pizza oven: Ooni Karu 16 multi-fuel pizza oven, £699
- Best compact Ooni pizza oven: Ooni Karu 12 multi-fuel pizza oven, £299
- Best-looking Ooni pizza oven: Ooni Koda 16 gas-fuelled pizza oven, £499
- Best Ooni pizza oven for small gardens: Ooni Koda 12 gas-fuelled pizza oven, £349
- Best electric Ooni pizza oven: Ooni Volt 12 electric pizza oven, £800
- Best wood-fired Ooni pizza oven: Ooni Fyra 12 wood pellet pizza oven, £299
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Best Ooni pizza ovens to buy in 2024
Ooni Karu 12G multi-fuel pizza oven
Best for taking on trips
Star rating: 4.5/5
An updated version of the original Karu 12, the 12G model is compact, lightweight and straightforward to set up. It's built with a clear-view glass door and larger fuel basket, so you only need 1.1kg of fuel to cook 10 pizzas (the original Karu 12 requires 1.5kg for the same amount).
We tested it with both charcoal and wood, and found it was simple to load with fuel and light. The pizzas we cooked in it were excellent too, with a crisp base and mottled crust. There is an added cost in that you have to buy every accessory separately, but otherwise it impressed us with its ease of use and efficient performance.
Ooni Karu 16
Best multi-fuel oven
Star rating: 4.5/5
If you're unsure whether you want a gas and wood-fired pizza oven, the Karu 16 gives you the best of both worlds. It can be heated with either gas, wood, or charcoal (though you'll need to buy a gas burner separately), and has capacity for a generously sized 16-inch pizza.
We found it easy to assemble and operate, and the cooking time is impressively speedy too. Our pizzas were ready in under a minute, and we loved being able to peek through the glass door to watch them bubble and crisp up. Read our full Ooni Karu 16 pizza oven review.
Ooni Karu 12 pizza oven
Best compact Ooni pizza oven
Star rating: 4.5/5
If you want a more compact version of the Karu 16, look at the Karu 12 instead, which offers room for one 12-inch pizza. The fact it's smaller not only means it's convenient store when it's not being used, but it's also good if you have limited outdoor space but still want to cook your own pizzas. Just make sure that any outdoor space where you’re cooking is well ventilated.
Unlike the Karu 16, this pizza oven doesn’t have a door, but rather just an opening where you can move pizzas in and out.
Ooni Koda 16 pizza oven
Best-looking Ooni pizza oven
Star rating: 4.5/5
The Koda 16 has much sleeker, understated look versus Ooni's other wood-fired and multi-fuel models, as it's powered by gas so doesn't need a chimney attachment. It's fairly weighty at 18.2kg so requires a little effort to move around. It's also quite large, but the legs fold away so you can store or transport it easily.
The oven uses an L-shaped flame, which gave our 16-inch pizzas a delicious flame-cooked flavour and even browning around the crust. We found other models that use this technology burned the pizzas quite quickly, so it's worth keeping a close eye while you're cooking and turn the dough as often as necessary. Read our full Ooni Koda 16 review.
Ooni Koda 12 pizza oven
Best pizza oven for small spaces
Star rating: 4.5/5
A smaller version of Ooni’s Koda 16 pizza oven, the Koda 12 is a small and compact gas-powered pizza oven. With or without the stone, this model is lightweight, making it easy to move around or travel with. It’s easy to set up too, simply flip out the three legs that sit flush to the underside, slot in the stone and attach the pipe to a propane gas canister.
A single strip of fire runs along the back of the pizza oven, the ferocity of the flame is adjusted using the dial at the back. This model has a relatively small letter-box opening, so launching your pizza requires some precision. But once cooked, our 12-inch pizza had a pillowy, leopard-spotted crust, a crisp base and perfectly melted cheese on top. Read our full Ooni Koda 12 review.
Ooni Volt 12 pizza oven
Best electric Ooni pizza oven
Star rating: 4/5
This electric model demonstrates the latest in pizza oven technology in that you can use it indoors. It's capable of hitting highs of 450C without the need for gas or wood – simply plug it in at the wall, wait for the temperature to rise, and sling your dough inside using a pizza peel. This means you never have to worry about running out of fuel mid-bake.
It requires a good amount of space, and would be better suited to something like a kitchen island (with good clearance around the oven's perimeter) rather than a standard kitchen countertop. Getting to grips with the controls took some time, but we loved the results once we'd fully mastered the controls. Just bear in mind that it gets very smoky, so you'll need to ensure you have adequate ventilation when using the oven inside. Read our full Ooni Volt 12 review.
Ooni Fyra 12 pizza oven
Best wood-fired Ooni pizza oven
Star rating: 4/5
Great for pizza parties or taking on trips, this lightweight pizza oven impressed us with its easy set-up and compact design. There was very little assembly required, and though it took a few attempts to light, it heated up surprisingly quickly – hitting 400C in just 15 minutes.
Opening the door to spin the dough meant the oven lost heat fairly rapidly, so we had to wait for five minutes for it to come back up to temperature in between pizzas. That said, they still cooked quickly – delivering a puffed crust with bubbling toppings in just 90 seconds.
Read our full Ooni Fyra 12 review.
How to choose an Ooni pizza oven
If you still haven't quite made your mind up based on the recommendations above, there are a few additional factors to consider that could aid your decision-making. You can also find more reviews in our guide to the best pizza ovens.
Budget
This is usually the best place to start, as it will help you narrow down your options and determine what price range you should aim for. The Ooni pizza ovens we've tested cost between £299 and £799.
Any additional purchases that are required – like a pizza peel or all-weather cover – can bump up the price, too. Ooni doesn't tend to include any accessories as standard, but there are bundles (which usually include an oven, pizza peel, cover and sometimes a gas burner) that bring down the overall cost.
Storage and space
Think about the size of your outdoor areas and where you'll keep the oven when it's not in use. If space is limited, consider buying one of the smaller Ooni models like the Karu 12, Karu 12G, Koda 12 or Fyra.
All the Ooni models on this list – with the exception of the Volt 12 – have foldaway legs, so they take up little room when they're packed away. If you're considering one of the larger ovens, like the Karu 16 or Koda 16, and plan on keeping it outside at all times, an all-weather cover is an absolute must.
Fuel type
Ooni offers a range of multi-fuel, wood, charcoal and gas pizza ovens, so it could be worth weighing up the benefits of each fuel type before you settle on a particular model. Electric pizza ovens, like the Ooni Volt 12, are among some of the easiest to use as they can just be plugged into the mains, but they lack the authentic smoky flavour you get with wood-fired pizzas.
If you want minimal clean-up and quick heat-up time, look at a gas-fired oven like the Koda 12 and Koda 16. They work similarly to a gas hob and have a dial to control the flame, so you have greater control over the temperature and can use the oven to cook other dishes, too. The downside is, if you don't have a gas canister already, the initial cost for the bottle can bump up the price further.
Wood-fired pizza ovens, like the Fyra 12, are the optimum choice is you're after an authentic flavour, though controlling the temperature can be more tricky. Buying the wood pellets is the easy bit, as they can be purchased online or in most supermarkets.
If you can't make up your mind or want the best of a few different fuel types, a multi-fuel model may be the way to go. Ooni has three multi-fuel ovens – the Karu 12, Karu 12G and the Karu 16 – which are compatible with wood, charcoal or propane gas, though bear in mind you'll have to buy the gas burner separately.
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